With the anticipation of the upcoming performances of Northern Girls: Bridlington, Aidan from ARCADE sat down with our debut writers to get some insight into the thought's behind their pieces and what it means to be a Northern Girl to them.
Here we introduce the third of our debut writers, Daisy Wynn.
If you prefer to listen to the interview, please see the video above.
Hi, I'm Aidan from ARCADE and I'm here this evening with another one of our debut writers, and we'll be discussing the writer’s current project and some of the ideas about what inspired that, and how they’ve come to create what they've made.
I’m Daisy and I’m doing the Northern Girls project at the minute and I’m writing a monologue.
So, as I've just found out, this monologue doesn't have a name yet of maybe, maybe won’t at all - doesn’t have to of course, but I'd be interested to hear what it is that inspired the piece that you are writing right now?
It's quite a few things really sort of a mix of things, so like sort of what it's really like to live in a seaside town that's like, mostly people just see it from a tourist perspective, sort of what it’s actually like. And then also, bits of it, which I haven't quite like fully written yet, haven’t written much of it yet, but essentially there was this thing that happened one time at school when a girl walked out and sort of basing it, a little bit of it, off of that, but also changing it to fit the actual story of mine.
So, someone who walked out of school, just left or-
Yeah, she was not the best, well-behaved person and she was having an argument with the teacher and literally got up and walked out of school.
Alright, okay, fair enough.
I'm probably going to get rid of the argument with the teacher, and this character eventually [is] just fed up with school and decides to leave.
Right. So then is a, I guess is piece more about sort of her life, living in Bridlington? Or is- or does it go into how people don't really understand what it's actually like to live in a place like this, is that sort of the-
It's kind of both. It's like, what it's really like, like I said before, like what it's really like, not from a tourist perspective and then also like a bit more about the character and what the character [is] like herself.
Yeah.
So talking about this tourist perspective of Bridlington which, which I've experienced too I feel like everyone I know that's ever been here is like ‘oh it's such a great place it's, it's lovely’ and it is, is definitely all of those things. But also, I think, the town has got a little bit of a bad reputation in some areas as well. So, I was wondering if there are any misconceptions about Bridlington that you think should be corrected that people think aren't actually true?
I think a lot people who even come here just think it's really really good. And whilst, some bits of it are like if you've been along the beach and stuff. It's really pretty sometimes, but when you get into the rougher areas of Brid, it's not actually that nice.
Yeah, yeah, I think I think that's fair. I think when we visit somewhere we tend to, I mean it's a cliche, we have a rose, rose tinted glasses and we don't think about the wider sort of picture of a place. Would you change that about Bridlington? Would you want it to be any different or?
I’ve actually never really thought about that, to be honest, I mean, like, It's good if you come here to see something that’s nice because even, even though some of us just don't really like Brid, people who live here don't really like it. At the same time, you want people to come back because it brings money into the town, and without the money coming into the town, it's never gonna get any better.
Of course, of course it's a bit vicious cycle. Do you think as someone who lives here permanently, or at the moment permanently obviously, is there anything that you would change?
I think, like I was saying, so the bits that aren't tourist areas are getting quite rundown and some places that used to be quite posh when Brid were first being built, are really rough and, yeah, probably needs a bit of work.
Yeah, give it a bit more of attention to everywhere, rather than just, just where people visit. And do you think then perhaps through writ[ing], and maybe [I’m] assuming too much here, but through this experience of writing about your hometown, have you developed a different appreciation for the area, or has it pretty much stayed the same? Which is also fine-
No, I think it’s pretty much stayed the same but like, I was like, not so much thinking that it doesn't exist but thinking of it as if it was a thing in a story rather than like when I’m writing it, someone’s going to perform it as a story rather than what's actually real. So, it's a bit like comparing it to like how you might read something different in the book, say thinking how reality is different to like a story.
Yeah, yeah, of course. So, then how have you found this experience is this your, your first time writing anything?
I've done some writing for a writing group in school which is run by one of our English teachers. This is the first sort of thing I've done for actual like theatre.
Yeah, of course. So how have you found my that? Has there been something about it that has been particularly difficult or is it quite an easy process for you?
I found it really interesting because it's different to something I’ve done before. I mean it's probably the same for most people, but the hardest bit is definitely coming up with the actual ideas. Once you've got the idea, you can write it, but, but if you haven't got an idea, you can’t actually write anything.
Exactly and then I assume you're sort of - I mean, you definitely have the idea now. So, so I would, I would hope that it's getting easier! Would you say that from starting this project have you now got any ideas that you'd like to take in the future? Have you've got any ideas for future pieces of work you want to do or?
One of the weeks we did a thing where we had these objects and we had to pick a few and make a story out of it. And, I was writing this thing about this sort of forest fairy and the garden gnome and I quite liked it, and I'd like to write that to a full story.
Yeah of course I think you should. If you find an idea that you really hold on to, you should definitely, you know, definitely give it a try because the worst thing that can happen is it doesn't work. I think it'll be really interesting. Of course, we're currently more interested in what you're currently creating, which we'll be able to see very soon.
How are you feeling about that idea of seeing a professional actor perform what you've written onstage?
I’m looking forward to it because it's like I do drama myself at school, some outside of school sometimes as well. It's like you're taking something someone else has written and putting your own spin on it. It will be interesting to see how someone else interprets something that I've written.
I hope you enjoy that, I'm sure it'll be a pleasant experience for you actually. Then you're looking forward to this as much as we are. Well, thank you very much for coming along today.
I just have one final question for you, and it's bit of a pick or choose you can choose to answer one or the other, whichever you feel more comfortable with. So, I’d like you to answer. What would you say a Northern Girl is to you, or more specifically, what would you say, a Brid girl is to you?
To be honest, I don't really think there's a lot of difference between the two. Because all it really is, I would say, a girl or woman, a female who, like, I don't, you don't really even have to live here. You can just like, if you like the place, if you like feel connected to it, somewhere you like to be, and you connect like I said, connect to where you are, then you can count yourself a Northern Girl.
I think that’s a really interesting take on it, that it’s built on your own perception rather than where you’re geographically from - that's great. Well, thank you very much again for joining me, and good luck with the piece, I'm sure it will be great.
Thank you
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